Finishing The Potions

Finishing The Potions

You’ve got your tubs full of flowers and oils. If you’ve left them on the window sill in the sun, they may already have changed colour.

You can make your potion even more powerful by following the next step, but if you’d prefer, you can skip this and go on to the final step (at the bottom of this page).

Potions on sill

You’ll need an adult present for the rest of the process. If no one can help, wait until someone is available. Do not do this alone!

With the help of a responsible adult, prepare a double boiler. The simplest way to do this is to upturn a plate at the bottom of the sauce pan and then fill the bottom of the pan with water. (The water should be well below the top of the tub, as you don’t want the heated water to slosh into the tub.)

Double Boiler Explanation: The idea of a double boiler is that the item you are heating — in this case, the tubs filled with oil and flowers — doesn’t directly contact the bottom of the saucepan. Rather, the tubs are heated indirectly by the water in the saucepan.

Put the tub(s) with the flowers still in on the inside of the double boiler and slowly heat the water to a simmer. Let it simmer for 15 minutes. Then turn the heat off and let it cool.

Remember to take a sniff!

When cool, remove the tub(s). Now strain out the flowers. (Warning this bit can be messy!). If you have removed the oil from the tub to strain it, pour it back in.

Now add some beeswax to each tub. The right amount is less than a teaspoonfull.

Put the tub back in the boiler and slowly heat until the beeswax is melted. Again, let the tub cool. (Hint, if you stir the tub as the beeswax cools the cream is much smoother.)

You’re finished!

Label each tub (Calendula cream, Lavender cream, etc.) so you don’t get mixed up which is which.

It’s probably best to keep your potions in the fridge — that way they will last a long time.